If there once a buzz, an excitement about the Buffalo Bills and the National Football League playing games in Toronto, there isn't anymore.

The silence leading up to Sunday's game between the inept Bills and unwatchable Chicago Bears has been almost overwhelming. The media coverage, what there has been, has been forced, not reacting to any real demand.

And the thing is, this failed series and the horrible Bills in no way represents how passionate Toronto is about the National Football League.

That is the odd juxtaposition of this trying to be cool city and the most powerful league in professional sports. All the research and marketing Rogers has done in trying to peddle this overpriced pap has determined just how many people in Southern Ontario care for the NFL.

We're just not fools.

We won't overpay for junk — and right now that's what the Bills are. Toronto is a city of Dolphins fans and Cowboys fans and Raiders fans and Steelers fans and just about any NFL team you can name. It's a football town that won't sell enough enough tickets for the Argos or the Bills, won't get excited really until it has its own NFL team. Until then, there will be more of the same — a neutral site game for a team that few around here really gives a damn about.

This and that

Between Toronto and Buffalo, these are sad times for pro sports. The Bills, Sabres, Leafs and Raptors are among the worst teams in their respective leagues ... The people who complain that NFL games in Toronto can't make it because there is no real tailgating to speak of don't know what they're talking about. There is no real tailgating in Seattle, Detroit, St. Louis, to name three cities, and it doesn't affect attendance or the game experience at all. Seattle has one of the best in-stadium crowds in footballl ... How can people say Brian Burke is doing a lousy job running the Leafs when Korbinian Holzer made his NHL debut on Saturday night ... One benefit for all the money Rogers Inc. is losing on the $78-million Bills In Toronto series: At least the Canadian dollar has co-operated ... The Bills should have beaten the Baltimore Ravens two weeks ago in overtime and had the Kansas City Chiefs done in overtime last Sunday, so expect them to win their first game today on neutral soil ... How long has the troubled Lindy Ruff been coaching the Sabres? Put it this way, Marv Levy was in his last year coaching the Bills when Ruff was hired and the football team has had six other head coaches since.

Hear and there

For all those Nazem Kadri screamers out there — shut up! Of the past 20 players drafted 7th overall in the NHL, only two — Jason Arnott and Jakub Voracek — have made the NHL before spending time in the minors. The good news on Kadri, he's tied for the lead in goals scored with the Marlies. The bad news, he's tied with the undrafted and barely known, Justin Hodgman ... Another Kadri note: The six players chosen before him in the 2008 draft are all playing in the NHL, four of them getting major minutes. Of the six players chosen after him, only one, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson of Edmonton, is taking a regular shift ... My favourite Tweet of the week, asked: "What am I going to do with my Miguel Olivo Blue Jays jersey now?" ... Has there ever been better class of Canadians playing in the CFL? What an impressive list of Eastern nominees for Top Canadian — Ben Cahoon, Kevin Eiben, Doug Brown and Dave Stala ... The Raptors may not play a better game this season than they played in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Friday night. And still, they lost ... Next up for Andrea Bargnani, being able to score in both halfs ... So, the misfits of the San Francisco Giants are World Series champions but I still prefer the version with Willie Mays in the outfield, Willie McCovey at first base and Juan Marichal pitching .

Scene and heard

One reason for Leafs optimism — maybe the only reason. The Giants broke a long drought in winning the Series, which has followed the Chicago Blackhawks ending a drought. It's now time for the Leafs, the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Clippers to win something ... For Chris Bosh, it's all about being on TV and exposing yourself as just another guy on that Miami Heat team ... I miss Chris Schultz and Football Fridays on the Fan 590. Knowing Chris Schultz, I suspect he misses it too ... This has to make you sad. Injured Friday night: Jesse Lumsden ... I would be fully willing to accept Angela James and Cammi Granato in the Hockey Hall of Fame if I knew which league they dominated. But there has been no league of consequence for women's hockey. Just two countries playing in international events. The game should have expanded more before any participants get Hall of Fame entry ... I happen to think Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour and Mark Howe are more deserving to be in the Hall than Dino Ciccarelli, but in a game where scoring means so much, you can't underrate the 608 goals he scored. Ciccarelli belongs, just not before Gilmour, Howe or Nieuwendyk ... And next year, Ed Belfour should be a first-ballot, Hall-of-Fame choice, and he'd probably offer a billion dollars to get him there.

And another thing

Jerry Jones has said that Wade Phillips will finish the season in Dallas. But there's not a chance he starts next season with the Cowboys ... Last year, Tuukka Rask couldn't lose and Tim Thomas couldn't win. This year, role reversal ... Vesa Toskala didn't block as many shots as the Boston Bruins players do ... Pound for pound, Wilfrid Laurier's Giancarlo Rapanaro is most fun player to watch in CIS football. The guy is everywhere on the field ...This comes courtesy of Chris Botta, the hockey blogger and former Islanders PR man: In 91 road games in the Charles Wang-Garth Snow-Scott Gordon era, the Islanders have won 11 in regulation time ... The best player in hockey nobody talks about: Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers. Second best: Loui Eriksson of the Dallas Stars ... Few players in history have impacted teams the way Chris Pronger has. He started poorly and so did the Philadelphia Flyers. Now he's playing well and the Flyers are winning. Where he goes, teams win ... Rather than have Jurgen Klinsmann work as a consultant for Toronto FC — why not have him coach the national team? ... If Tomas Kaberle is the power-play expert he is purported to be, why have the Leafs never been above 19% with the man advantage post-lockout ... Happy Birthday to Buck Martinez (62), King Kong Bundy (53), Joni Mitchell (67), Pascal Leclaire (28), Elvis Peacock (54) and Tanya Dubnicoff (41) ... And hey, whatever became of William (Refrigerator) Perry?